Drayton Reservoir is a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

Daventry Daventry ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, Daventry had a populati ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The reservoir is accessible from the

A361 The A361 is an A class road in southern England, which at is the longest three-digit A road in the UK. History When first designated in 1922, the A361 ran from Taunton (Somerset) to Banbury (Oxfordshire). It was later extended west through Ba ...

near the northern edge of Daventry. Drayton Reservoir is a feeder reservoir for the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...

. When water is required for the canal the water level at Drayton can drop by 30 cm or more in a day. Drayton Reservoir was controlled by

British Waterways British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotlan ...

until their responsibilities for waterways in England and Wales were transferred to the

Canal & River Trust The Canal & River Trust (CRT), branded as in Wales, holds the guardianship of 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, together with reservoirs and a wide range of heritage buildings and structures, in England and Wales. Launched on 12 July 2012, the ...

and is home to Rugby Sailing Club. It lies near another Grand Union Canal feature,

Braunston Tunnel Braunston Tunnel is on the Grand Union Canal about east of Braunston, Northamptonshire, England top lock. It is in the northern outskirts of Daventry, about east of the village of Braunston. Braunston Tunnel is in length. Built by Jessop an ...

Angling

Drayton Reservoir is known to UK anglers as one of England's premier match fishing venues. It was stocked with 50,000 small

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

and these have grown quickly. 9lb (4 kg) Drayton Reservoir carp are commonplace. 20lb (9 kg) carp are caught very regularly with larger specimens available. Anglers are advised to ensure they have angling equipment that can handle the large fish and that they watch their rods and poles; hundreds of rods and poles have been pulled into the reservoir by fish. British Waterways manage the fishery with bailiffs patrolling every few hours. They provide advice in addition to selling day tickets. There is limited parking by the dam wall and a toilet. With the exception of the dam wall most of the well managed fishing pegs are open to wheelchair access.

References

UK Fisheries - Drayton ReservoirFisheries.co.uk - Drayton Reservoir
{{authority control Reservoirs in Northamptonshire